Raymond Lévesque (October 7, 1928 – February 15, 2021) was a Canadian singer-songwriter and poet from Quebec. One of the pioneers of the ''

chansonnier A chansonnier (, , Galician and , or ''canzoniéro'', ) is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings of songs, hence literally " song-books"; however, some manuscripts are call ...

'' tradition in Quebec, he was best known for writing " Quand les hommes vivront d'amour", one of the most famous pop standards in French-language popular music.

Early life

Lévesque was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

on October 7, 1928. He learned piano under

Rodolphe Mathieu Joseph Rodolphe Mathieu (10 July 1890 – 29 June 1962) was a Canadian composer, pianist, writer on music, and music educator. ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' states, "Considered too avant-garde for his time because of Debussy's influence on his mu ...

and drama under Madame Audet. Shortly after, he met his wife and they married soon after. Inspired by the work of

Charles Trenet Louis Charles Augustin Georges Trenet (; 18 May 1913 – 19 February 2001) was a renowned French singer-songwriter who composed both the music and the lyrics for nearly 1,000 songs over a career that lasted more than 60 years. These songs inclu ...

,"RAYMOND LÉVESQUE (1928 – …)"
''Star Québec'', March 31, 2013. he began writing songs in the 1940s and started performing in various

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

s around Montreal. He had his first significant breakthrough in 1947, when he was invited to perform several of his songs on

CKAC CKAC is a Canadian French, French-language radio station located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Owned by Cogeco, the station operates as a commercial travelers' information station, traffic information service branded as ''Radio Circulation 730''. ...

radio by Fernand Robidoux.

Career

Lévesque was cohost with Colette Bonheur of the variety series ''Mes jeunes années'' on

Radio-Canada Radio-Canada may refer to: * CBC/Radio-Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation *Ici Radio-Canada Télé, the CBC's main French-language television network *Ici Radio-Canada Première Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) i ...

from 1952 to 1954. He subsequently spent several years living in France, where he recorded for

Barclay Records Barclay is a French Universal Music Group record label, originally owned by Eddie Barclay in 1953. Barclay previously established Riviera-LM Records in 1951. Eddie was a bandleader, pianist, producer and nightclub owner. With his wife and voc ...

and had his songs recorded by French artists such as

Bourvil André Robert Raimbourg (; 27 July 1917 – 23 September 1970), better known as André Bourvil (), and mononymously as Bourvil, was a French actor and singer best known for his roles in comedy films, most notably in his collaboration with Loui ...

Jean Sablon Jean Sablon (Nogent-sur-Marne 25 March 1906 – Cannes 24 February 1994) was a French singer, songwriter, composer and actor. He was one of the first French singers to immerse himself in jazz. The man behind several songs by big French and Amer ...

Cora Vaucaire Cora Vaucaire (July 12, 1918 - September 17, 2011) was a French singer. Early life She enrolled at the Conservatoire d'art dramatique de Paris. Career She attended the classes of Fernand Ledoux and Charles Dullin Charles Dullin (; 8 May ...

and

Eddie Constantine Eddie Constantine (born Israel Constantine; October 29, 1913 – February 25, 1993) was an American singer, actor and entertainer who spent most of his career in France. He became well-known to film audiences for his portrayal of secret agent L ...

. During this time he wrote "Quand les hommes vivront d'amour", which was inspired by the contemporaneous

Algerian War The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

; first recorded by Constantine, the song has since been recorded and performed by many artists in both France and Canada. Other noted songs he wrote during this era included "Les Trottoirs", "La Vénus à Mimile", "Le Coeur du Bon Dieu" and "Rosemont sous la pluie". After returning to Quebec in 1959, he took acting roles in several ''

téléroman A téléroman ("telenovel" or ''annual drama series'') is a genre of French-language drama television series in Canada, similar to a soap opera or a Spanish language telenovela. In France, the ''téléroman'' genre is known as feuilleton télévi ...

s'' and hosted the children's television series ''Coucou'', and cofounded a ''boîte à chansons'' called Chez Bozo with

Jean-Pierre Ferland Jean-Pierre Ferland, (; June 24, 1934 – April 27, 2024) was a Québécois singer and songwriter. He was noted for writing over 450 songs and releasing more than 30 albums. He was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007. ...

, Clémence DesRochers, Hervé Brousseau,

André Gagnon André Gagnon (2 August 1936 – 3 December 2020) was a Canadian pianist, composer, conductor, arranger, and actor, known for his fusion of classical and pop styles,Jean-Pierre Thiollet, ''88 notes pour piano solo'', Neva Editions, 2015, p.16 ...

and

Claude Léveillée Claude Léveillée (16 October 1932 – 9 June 2011) was a Canadian actor, pianist, and singer-songwriter who composed more than 400 songs, instrumental pieces, and musicals. In 1959, Léveillée co-founded ''Les Bozos'', an informal collective ...

. In 1968, he also began to write poetry and plays, and became politically active in the

Quebec separatist The Quebec sovereignty movement (French: ''mouvement souverainiste du Québec'', ) is a political movement advocating for Quebec's independence from Canada. Proponents argue that Quebecers form a distinct nation with a unique culture, language, ...

movement.

Later life

Lévesque received a lifetime achievement award from the

Prix Félix Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who ...

in 1980. By the mid-1980s, Lévesque had suffered profound hearing loss and was diagnosed as

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

. He abandoned music but continued to write, publishing several further works of poetry, fiction and political satire. Lévesque was awarded the

Prix Denise-Pelletier The Prix Denise-Pelletier is an award by the Government of Quebec that is part of the Prix du Québec, given to individuals for an outstanding career in the performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which a ...

in 1997. He was named a winner of the

Governor General's Performing Arts Award The Governor General's Performing Arts Awards are an annual Canadian award, presented to honour distinguished achievements in Canadian performing arts and culture. Administered by the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation in associ ...

in 2005, but declined the honour due to his sovereignist views. In 2016, a new song written by Lévesque, titled "Les jours d'amour", was recorded and released by singer Marie-Josée Longchamps. He died on February 15, 2021, in

. He was 92, and had been diagnosed with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec The COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec was part of the global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Until 2021, Quebec had reported the hi ...

in the time leading up to his death.

Discography

Albums

* 1962 – ''Chansons et monologues'' * 1965 – ''Raymond Lévesque à la Butte-à-Mathieu'' * 1967 – ''Après 20 ans'' * 1971 – ''Raymond Lévesque'' * 1972 – ''Qui êtes-vous, Raymond Lévesque?'' * 1975 – ''Raymond Lévesque chante pour les travailleurs'' * 1977 – ''Le p'tit Québec de mon cœur''

Compilations

* 1989 – ''Collection souvenir'' * 1993 – ''Québec love : Raymond Lévesque'' * 1999 – ''Raymond Lévesque : 50 ans de chansons – Quand les hommes vivront d'amour'' * 2005 – ''Raymond Lévesque – Collection Québec Info Musique''

Bibliography

Poetry

* 1956 – ''Quand les hommes vivront d'amour'' * 1971 – ''Au fond du chaos'' * 1971 – ''Le malheur n`a pas des bons yeux'' * 1974 – ''On veut rien savoir'' * 1977 – ''Le Temps de parler'' * 1981 – ''Électrochoc'' * 1989 – ''Quand les hommes vivront d'amour II'' * 2012 – ''La nouvelle pensée''

Plays

• 1968-Médée * 1970 – ''Bigaouette'' * 1974 – ''Tharèse'' * 1980 – ''On veut savoir'' * 1983 – ''C'est à ton tour mon cher René'' * 1986 – ''Waitress'' * 1988 – ''Deux mille ans après Jésus-Christ''

Autobiography

* 1986 – ''D'ailleurs et d'ici''

Novels

* 1995 – ''Ketchup : ou comment refaire le monde'' * 2000 – ''Le petit Lalonde''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Levesque, Raymond 1928 births 2021 deaths Canadian folk singer-songwriters French-language singers of Canada 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian male poets Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Canadian musical theatre composers Male musical theatre composers Canadian autobiographers Canadian humorists Canadian novelists in French Canadian poets in French Canadian dramatists and playwrights in French Singers from Montreal Poets from Montreal 20th-century Canadian male singers Canadian male television actors Canadian television variety show hosts Canadian male novelists 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers Canadian male non-fiction writers Prix Denise-Pelletier winners Félix Award winners Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada 20th-century Canadian singer-songwriters Novelists from Montreal